It seems like we get so caught up in our everyday lives that we rarely take the time to focus on building something that is really near and dear to us, such as our Home Staging and Real Estate Business. We take care of everyone and everything else, but fail to give our business the attention it needs to sprout, grow and thrive.

As we start off this new year with a bang, I decided we should start off our home staging businesses with a bang as well.

I think that in order to get your Home Staging Business off the ground…and then some, you have to have a specific plan in place. During my APSD Property Scene Designer Training, I actually do a business blue print with each PD so we can specifically create a 12 month plan of success. Needless to say, the PD’s that follow the plan have a booming home staging business.

But, it is one thing to ‘say’ you have to have a plan and another to actually understand how to do one and figure out what goes into your plan.

That is why this year, I am going to do an APSD 12 month Home Staging Blue Print with every single one of you that joins me for our ONLINE STAGE EVENT because that is how strongly I feel about you having a specific vision and plan of action to carry out the vision. (By the way, all the details are at www.APSDmembers.com/OnlineSTAGE -hurry it starts next week!)

The important thing though, is to start now. Don’t wait because we all know how quickly time passes us by right? So please, I am asking you, encouraging your, willing to support you…make the choice right now, to be a success in the home staging industry!

First of all, there are several factors to consider when you decide to run and effective Home Staging and Real Estate Business:
1) Vision. Have you stopped to decide specifically what you want from this business? Are you looking to niche a specific service like “Curb Appeal.” “Color Analysis,” “High End Homes,” etc.? Or, are you happy to just set a goal, like 4 staging’s a week and take what comes? I find by starting anything with a very clear vision, you are far more likely to quickly achieve your goal.

2) Momentum. Once you decide what you want, you need to build momentum by taking massive action. I know most of you work other jobs or take care of your children (many of you do both!) so the thought of “massive action” could stop you in your tracks. But stop to think about what “massive action” could be. Maybe you decide that you can make 10 calls every Monday to local real estate offices. Then, on Friday, you send out follow up emails to the same 10. If you are not doing anything right now, that is “Massive action.” When you do it consistently, you will get results which leads to momentum. It is like losing weight, drop a pound or two in the first week by saying no to sweets and yes to a daily walk, you get results, which leads to momentum and before you know it you are in week 4 and have lost 10 pounds. Massive Action leads to Momentum which leads to results.

3) MindSet. Now that you have a little momentum going, you may start to second guess yourself. Maybe it is because of how you were raised, or you don’t have enough support at home or you simply lack confidence, but I find that in order to have continued growth, your “head” needs to be in the right place. Normally, we call this mindset and during my recent APSD Stager Pro and APSD Certified Trainers Program, we talked a great deal about confidence and mindset. It is a special session that I will be teaching during ONLINE STAGE.
I am a big believer in putting yourself in the right frame of mind, and keeping it there, in order to achieve the success you deserve. I know when I first started out on my own home staging business, I lacked confidence in my ability, did not think I could succeed, had a wonderful husband that didn’t understand what I was trying to do and was a very well conditioned mid-westerner that kept thinking “work harder and I will be fine.” WOW! Did I ever have a great deal to learn. Mindset is one of the biggest keys to success which is why I am devoting an entire session to it at our ONLINE STAGE training.
As women (and a few really cool guys) we have to put our mind in the right place for ourselves and our family. Otherwise we will live a life of poverty mindset and even worse, pass it along to our children. Wouldn’t you prefer a mindset of “abundance?”

4) Extraordinary Skills. When my APSD Certified Home Staging Professionals ask me how to compete, or blaze the home staging trail, I always tell them to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. The funny thing, is that I tell my small business consulting clients the same thing, so it works for every industry. It is easy to just look at what others do and do the same. What takes a little more effort is to be better. One of my mentors, Dan Kennedy, says “look around at your competition and whatever they are doing, do the opposite.”

I took this to heart when I created APSD. I looked around at everyone and I did the opposite. I created an association that supported our members. Also, I assumed you were already smart and talented, so instead of showing you how to create a trilogy of candles (because I assume you already know how to put 3 candles on a plate), APSD gave you a proven Home Staging system; a model to follow so you can yield specific results. Then, and this is the best part, APSD came out with specific trainings that spoke to our members and their bottom lines. I think you should make a bunch of income with your Home Staging and Real Estate business and be able to help your client in the biggest and best way. In order to do that, you have to offer multiple services which yield you multiple streams of income. In the APSD ONLINE STAGE training, I will introduce you to 25 streams of home staging income. Everything from Color Analysis to Curb Appeal to our propriety programs like Bang for the Buck and Estage!

But it doesn’t stop there. We continually differentiate ourselves from any other program by offering courses for today’s home stager such as “Vacant and Distressed Property Staging” which we will be doing during our ONLINE STAGE event. This is a hot button across the globe and once you learn to effectively stage “Vacant and Distressed” properties, you will have every real estate agent in your market place knocking down your door for help.

The new APSD Certified Trainers have already had a sneak peek into the program and you will have your chance to do so as well at ONLINE STAGE. Make sure you have the best skills possible and that is what will differentiate you in your Home Staging Market and get clients rushing to you vs. you having to chase them down.

5) Marketing. You knew I would get there, right? This has to be one of the biggest parts of your plan. During the point on “Momentum” I talked about setting a “marketing schedule” such as calling 10 real estate offices on Monday and following up with the same 10 on Friday. Believe it or not, if you just did this, and did it with good marketing, like that which you receive in “How to Market Your Home Staging Business” after a short time, you would have enough business.

Imagine if you added a postcard to the mix! Whoo Hoo! Now you may have to hire someone to help you! Okay, okay, I know I am being a little sarcastic but most home stagers don’t market. Part of the reason is they just never get organized enough to do so and the other part is that APSD is the only Home Staging Training Association to offer REAL WORLD home staging Marketing. The important thing is that you set up a marketing schedule and follow it. The more aggressive you are, the better your results. But there is one result that I know for sure, and that is if you don’t do any marketing, you will get zero results. So, set a schedule that you can manage and follow it. Your 12 month home staging blue print will be a step by step process to help you with this for every single month in 2012.

In the Home Staging and Real Estate Industry, there are at least 19 ways to effectively market your business and during our ONLINE STAGE event I am going to go through each way with you, step by step so when you leave, you have a MARKETING PLAN! It doesn’t have to be hard, but you do have to do it!

By simply following these 5 steps, you will find that your Home Staging Business is doing far more than just “getting off the ground” in 2011.

And because we are going to cover so much of this during our ONLINE STAGE training I wanted to give you an opportunity for you and a friend to come at our 2 for 1 pricing! Just check out my special offer below!